Ship Info: Loved it! Clean Spotless, Great Service, Problems solved right away. Our Cruise Director Andrzej Sanakewicz (Andrea) was fabulous, witty and wonderful. Loved him! Extremely efficient, everything went with Swiss precision. Embarkation and Disembarkation was perfect. Luggage waiting for us in our cabin, and at the bus to take us to our destination for us to identify before loading at the end of your cruise. Great entertainment on board featuring a local specialities: gypsy violists, Bavarian Band, vanilla cookie demonstration(hilarious),Beer Tasting, Violin Performance Young Beautiful Ladies + Passenger and Crew Talent Nights + Sasha Every night playing the piano and keyboard. Great Bar Service and Special Happy Hour prices. Andrea's Port Talks always very witty and described what is in store for tomorrow some historic information to make the adventure more meaningful. Shore

Excursions: Many are included a few are optional extras. We chose several of the optional extras, and found the pace to be a bit too much, so for us we would back off of most of the optional trips. For the most part the guide used for the included excursions were better anyway. Better English, projected their voices well, and were attentive to the group staying together from one location to the next. I can't say the optional trip guides were as good. One other minor complaint. Some of the crew was doing maintenance painting while we were in port. The fumes were coming into the lobby, dining room, lounge and some of the cabins. Many of us voiced our displeasure and the practice was quickly stopped.

Cabin: Very comfortable, Aft is better because of the engine noise and thrusters that move the ship side to side in the locks. We had the dining room above us and in the morning set up was a bit thunderous. We were up getting ready for the day anyway.

Dining: Breakfast buffet was great, with a chef in the corner making omelets and eggs sunny side up. There were lox, bacon, sausage, cereals, breads, pastries, yogurt, tomatoes, onions, jams. Sometimes the service was slow setting up fresh table service. I spoke to the Officer in charge of dining about that and I did see improvement. Lunch also buffet with an area of salads outside the dining room, and hot buffet and soups in the dining room. Soup was OK but could be more exciting. Always fish and a meat selection, and great, light desserts. Dinner: You got a menu choice the night before, but it is not cast in concrete, and there is a choice of chicken (mine was dry as a bone should have sent it back) or salmon some nights. Again the soup after a few days was the same old thing and some of the entrees were great, others just OK...I'm sort of fussy. Again great light desserts as well as perfect modest portions and the captain came around with a huge platter offering seconds. AND there is 4:00 PM coffee and cake with wonderful sauces as well as ice cream. Yummy!! I didn't miss many desserts. Oh! I shouldn't forget the wine. Its included at dinner, and for the most are local wines excellent and they keep it coming filling you glass during dinner. The wine has no sulfates so enjoy!!

Restaurants: In Vienna just around the corner from the big entrance to the Palace is a little local sidewalk cafe called Kanzleramt (www.restaurant-kanzleramt.at) a favorite of the local lunch crowd. I had the best soup (white asparagus) I have ever, ever had!! Spring time only. and in Budapest, Rezkakas Restaurant in the area or the Elizabeth Bridge and the Danube river (www.rezkakasrestaurant.com) It is in one of many pedestrian zones. Fabulous! Gypsy violins during dinner. Pricey but what the hey, our last night in Budapest. Loved Vienna, Budapest, Regensburg, Miltenberg Germany, Bamberg Germany, Melk and Mellk Abbey, Brataslava (gorgeous women and good looking guys) and sidewalk cafes everywhere to enjoy them.

Service: We had an exception chamber maid, Sonjia. She was darling, exuberant, happy gal, keeping our cabin sparkling clean, and turning our beds down at night. In the dinning room our servers: Robert, Josef, Sylvia, and Lucie, were outstanding and Bar man Tibor and wife Szusanna were on their toes all the time, charming and competent. Our captain I'm sorry that I didn't write all these names down was a master at maneuvering our ship into the locks and turing it around to dock. A wonder to watch. It is amazing to watch all working on the ship because no one ever is idle. They are ready and willing to do any task that is needed. Even the Captain was working on transferring luggage when we were disembarking part of the time. Later I saw him in the lounge with other ship captains having coffee and a chat. We usually got great docking positions due to his popularity. A very charming but quiet guy. Could be because of languages. it appeared he didn't speak much English.

Summary: A wonderful trip! Book early close to a year out! We booked in Nov. for May and got the last cabin in the A class cabins. Avalon markets to Americans, Canadians and Australians and we had 2 couples from New Zealand, and two couples from The Netherlands. There was one large family with children that surprised us, but they were great darling kids, beautifully behaved and dressed, and they didn't get bored. They were unusually well disciplined kids, so I don't know that this is a trip I would recommend for most kids as there is nothing that is "kid" orientated. We found some fun Australians and Canadians right off the bat (11 of us)that we hung with the whole trip. As always, its up to you to have fun! It was a marvelous trip! I'll do another one very soon! We have been home a week and I dream about it awake and asleep! Loved it Loved it. We did take the optional trip in the Czech Republic to Cesky Krumlov for a peak at real Gypsies (gorgeous!) and the winding charming cobblestone streets, baltic amber shopping, and a leisurely lunch along the little river.I had Steak Tartar (raw chopped steak) with some wonderful warm sour dough rye bread and a beer! YUMMY! This is a speciality in this area, and it is wonderful. They bring a whole plate of goodies to add to it. My mouth is watering as I think about it! Every were we stopped for a bite it was fabulous. Andrea would usually mention what the area we were stopping in and products it was known for, as well as food items. We had a sauerkraut and sausage soup in Brataslava at a little sidewalk cafe along a nice shaded boulevard that is a block in from the Danube and runs parallel to the Danube. It was fabulous. We found that when we are docked for a stretch over lunch it was fun to eat in town for some variety, rather than going back to the ship to eat. Sometimes the ship would be within walking distance and other times when we were docked in a city a bus would take us in. In those situations the bus usually was available at a designated pick up point at a few different times so people could have flexibility with there return. Good Physical condition is certainly a plus on these trips as there are rough cobblestone streets and stairs to climb. Have fun and enjoy your trip!

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